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Tourist ‘must-see’ saved as crews unclog Seal RocksREPAIR crews worked across the New Year period – sometimes in temperatures of more than 40 deg – to clear a sewerage blockage at Seal Rocks.
By Susan Webster - 15th January 2008 - Back to News Westernport Water organised daily sewerage tank pumping to keep the vital tourist attraction open.
Water employees worked for eight days, including New Year’s Day, tracing the pipe blockage.
David Mawer, Westernport Water’s managing director said: "The crews got the first emergency call-out at five minutes to midnight on December 29 and were at work almost constantly for more than a week."
They sluiced the pipe at 100m intervals, excavating about 2m and cutting open the pipe at each dig.
"They’ve worked in the heat, with the flies, and, occasionally the snakes – it’s been a superhuman effort," Mr Mawer said. "And, of course, they did it over their holidays. I believe others were recalled from leave for a day to cover other urgent work, as well."
The blockage was caused by the build-up of ferox, a granular substance created by the interaction of sewerage and treatment chemicals.
The Seal Rocks centre stayed open throughout the works and hosted the usual large numbers of visitors.
"With a tourist attraction such as Seal Rocks you simply have to do something quickly. You don’t have time to delay the works," Mr Mawer said. "You have to be able to respond straight away; to have the staff and the equipment at hand to get things going again quickly.
"I would like to thank the crews who spent their holidays on this urgent and much-needed emergency repair. Their response – even during the telecast of the cricket Test – shows a level of service that does us proud."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: susanw@ptarmigan.com.au
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